Since writing my post on Sunday about Vice-President Pence meeting with the controversial Reverend John Hagee, I've read several things about his beliefs that make me think twice about him.
The most relevant for my particular field of interest, eschatology, is his belief that there are multiple ways to salvation, in particular for the Jews.
His belief that while Christians need to come through Jesus Christ to be saved (true - "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me," John 14:6), those of Jewish heritage are already God's chosen people and should come to God through their own practices (false - "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through Me," John 14:6).
The implication of this is that when there are exceptions to the rule, there may be others as well, and it seems logical to assume that the "spiritual buffet" is in order in Rev. Hagee's mega-church: write your own ticket to Heaven! Believe what you want to believe, and God will take you in!
Let us be clear about this, friends:
There is only one group of people allowed into Heaven, and that group consists of people who have accepted the boarding pass who is Jesus Christ. He IS "the way, the truth, and the life," and "NO ONE comes to the Father" in Heaven except by accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Heaven is NOT for "good" people, any more than Hell is for "bad" ones. Heaven is simply for those who have chosen to accept a loving and obedient relationship with the Trinity that is God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit that lives within every Believer. You might be the nicest person in the world - without a relationship with God, you would probably hate Heaven. (Not as much as you'll hate Hell, but that's another issue.) And nobody bound for Heaven can claim to get there because of their own upstanding citizenry on earth - we ALL sin, every day, and no human being (save Jesus) can be sinless enough (that is, PERFECT enough) to meet God's exacting standards. We are invited to go to Heaven through the grace of God given to those who serve Him.
So, I don't expect to see Reverend Hagee in Heaven when I get there, frankly, because it sounds like he's not clear on the whole concept of Christianity. Being a Christian is NOT a buffet - you only get one God, and that is Yahweh, Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel. You only get one route to God, and that is through the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, Who is called the Christ, the Son of Man.
Sorry. That's just how it is.
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